


9th Scent:  Bells.

by Windryder1



Series: How to Train Your Animal Demon [8]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Cute, Friendship, Other, Supernatural - Freeform, Yôkai, cat/human hybrid, dojima, fox/human hybrid, hanamura yosuke - Freeform, narukami yu - Freeform, persona - Freeform, persona 4 - Freeform, shirogane naoto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 19:04:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3866311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windryder1/pseuds/Windryder1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both Kaori Shirogane and Yu Narukami share an inventive way of keeping track of their animal demons.  Ever wonder why Naoto always wears a tie (beyond office attire requirments) and Yosuke always wears headphones?<br/>They both became accustomed to wearing something around their necks.  I give you...<br/>Bell Days.</p>
            </blockquote>





	9th Scent:  Bells.

9th SCENT: BELLS

\----May 8th. Junes first floor after school... ----

Not even a month after he'd arrived in the small town of Inaba, and Yu Narukami found himself scouting out the pet department in the local convenience store giant, Junes, for toys. 

The small fox-demon he'd accidentally bound his soul to may live with the Hanamuras, but the little guy already become bored with the toys Chie brought over to the Dojima home to keep him occupied when Yu had to play babysitter. However, the one thing he never tired of was that simple yellow ball Nanako had given to him. Mrs. Hanamura did not feel comfortable leaving Yosuke alone in their house, so Yu often took him home, and would simply keep him over night. He'd drop him off the next morning with an update to Mrs. Hanamura for her in-progress tome on young Animal Demon Yokai, then go to school. Occasionally, he would bring Yosuke along. 

Sayaka Hanamura wanted to study the bond between the two. However, with a house as large as the Hanamura residence, there was an abundance of places the 15" tall fox-boy could squeeze into. The most dangerous so far had been the hall closet. After that, it was getting locked in the back yard shed, hitching a ride in Yoshi Hanamura's car, getting tangled in the window blinds, and falling into the washer. Thankfully, he was found when Mrs. Hanamura went to do the laundry. 

One of Yosuke's favorite games was 'Chase Me, Chase You.' On rainy days, that game turned into a form of hide and seek. That little fox managed to find many other places to disappear to - like cupboards, drawers, and shelves. After catching him in the hall closet again trying to get into a box of folded vintage kimono, Yu made the decision to take up Chie's advice; get him a collar with a bell. She'd said it saved her time in searching for her dog, Muku, when he was a puppy, or wondering what he was up to when the house got too quiet. 

Yu had mixed feelings about putting a collar around the little fox-boy's neck. Yosuke wasn't a pet, or even really a Human. He had his own personality, likes, dislikes, and spark of a soul, so Yu made a conscious effort to not treat him like a personal belonging --like he owned him. Yet moments where the fox-demon chewed on shoes, trailed mud through his uncle's house, or didn't do what he was told, convinced him this bell idea was a good one. He'd use it to keep track of and train the small animal-demon until Yosuke learned to follow the rules. 

He passed by the fruits and vegetables on the way to the escalator to the second floor. Cabbages were on sale. He'd have to let his uncle know.

* * * *  
Kaori Shirogane parked her car in the lot out back at Junes and stepped out into the afternoon sun. It was a breezy day pulling in clouds for a future nightly storm, so she decided to leave work early to run some errands for the house. She'd left Naoto in her husband's care at the station. 

She adjusted the slim purse over her shoulder as her heels clicks against the pavement. There were a few things she needed: detergent, some specific vegetables and meats to round out her newest family member's diet, another cookie jar, and a very important item that would hopefully prevent the breakage of this newest jar; a collar with a bell on it. 

The guilty party --one 12” tall tiny cat-demon by the name of Naoto Shirogane. 

Kaori figured out early on that Naoto had a severe sweet tooth. If it was made of sugar, it was fair game. Hence why their housekeeper had found the cookie jar smashed into large pieces on the floor, and a content little cat-girl happily munching on a chocolate chip cookie a quarter of her size. This was the last straw in a pile of events leading up to the bell decision; Naoto had not only managed to get herself locked in an interrogation room after she'd been explicitly told not to go to that floor, she'd also left the books in the detectives office in a messy pile on Detective Adachi's desk, ran through the house covered in mud when she'd been outside during a pocket storm and thus left tiny footprints all over the wood floor and tatami mats, clawed through an entire toilet paper roll, been caught in the kitchen at nearly every hour of the day getting one snack or another by either jumping, climbing, or creating a Rube Goldberg device to bring the desired item to her (which was remarkable, to be honest), and been lost in the house for six hours in a game of hide and seek. The housekeeper did not appreciate spending her entire shift looking for the little cat-girl –whom it turned out what hiding behind a Kabuki mask on a shelf in the den. 

One of the officers at the station mentioned that he'd bought a collar with a bell on it for his cat so no one would think it was a stray, and that was all the push Kaori needed. She'd use this bell collar to keep track of and train the small animal-demon until Naoto learned to follow the rules. 

She rode the escalator to the second floor. Cabbages were on sale at two for one today. She made a note to pick some up on the way out. 

\----Junes. Pet aisle #4...----

Kaori and Yu walked down the pet aisle from opposite ends, not thinking much about the other. After all, lots of people had pets, hence the need for six large aisles of food, toys, and various care items. Both expected the other to pass them by or stop at a random point. However, their target was the same. Their hands nearly collided when they reached for the small animal collars with bells on them at the same time. Mrs. Shirogane paused, but the young man next to her forfeit the win out of courtesy and waited for her to take the blue collar on top. He slid the dark red one behind it from the hook. 

“Do you have a dog or a cat?” Mrs. Shirogane asked. 

“Um, a fox, actually.”

“A fox? Interesting. Different, but interesting.”

Having a fox was an oddity, considering they're not common pets. “Yeah. That's one word for him." He put the collar in his hand basket, then nodded to her and wagered a guess. “...Cat?”

Kaori allowed a small smile of amusement. She didn't know this young man, but he gave off a very disarming vibe. He was easy to talk to. “Yes. She keeps hiding. She's still so young, and little, it's hard to keep track of her.”

He smirked. “Tell me about it. He can be impossible to find sometimes.” 

“I guess we understand each other a little, then,” her polite smile turned genuine. Two people connecting over their pets. This boy was still a stranger, but now whenever she'd see him, she'd know they shard a commonality. “It was a pleasure to meet you,...” 

“Yu Narukami,” He extended his hand, which she took. 

“Kaori Shirogane. Good luck with that fox, Yu. Have a nice day.” 

“Thanks. You, too.”

And ending the light social conversation, they parted ways. 

He saw Kaori add a bottle of pet shampoo (Discourages fleas and ticks! Harmless to your pet's eyes!) to her basket. After a quick decision, he did the same. He might as well learn from someone who knew more about the subject than he did. Besides, he was sure Yosuke didn't like smelling like strawberries from using Nanako's shampoo.

* * * *

\----That night at the Shirogane manor...----

The soft latch clicked at the back of her neck. Naoto clasped the large brass jingle bell in both palms and pulled. She reached behind, but could only fumble uselessly at the latch. 

The light jingle of the bell made her mother chuckle. "Now I can find you. You're so little, I should have done this at the beginning." 

Naoto scowled, ordering her to take this thing off immediately as she pulled at the bell. It sounded a mocking jingle at her efforts to tear it free. Why was she being punished? It was only a couple of cookies. ... ok, maybe six...teen. But they were mini cookies! Her stomach ache was gone, so what was the problem now? She yanked, tugged, fell over and rolled to remove the bell. She panted, lying on her back. Her mission to rid the bell from this collar failed. 

Her mother listened to the sounds, mews, and half words. "You've been lost in the police station three times when you left the detectives offices –which you weren't supposed to do. You're lucky Detective Adachi found you locked in that interrogation room before we had to spray for bugs.” She tucked her hands under Naoto's arms to lift her up. “Until you learn to obey the rules, and stay where you're told, that bell is staying on. And also, you ate sixteen cookies. You're 12 inches tall. Where did all those cookies go?" She put her down and moved into the study. A stack of files awaited her. With that bell jingling in the background, for the first time Kaori didn't stress about losing track of the tiny animal-demon.

Naoto let out a long, petulant whine. This was going to make it impossible to quietly follow suspects, or stalk the kitchen treats. Surely her friends weren't subjected to this horror, wherever they were. 

To heck with this! Naoto took off down the hallway, leaving a trail of jingles in her wake, and skid to a halt in front of the kitchen entryway. Her eyes fell on the plate of cookies on the center island. She moved forward, but cringed when the bell jingled. Her hands quickly clamped around it to silence the tattle-tail noise. Sure she could get away with it, she ran to the island. The bell muffled to a hollow 'dink' sound. Sadly, she had to release it in order to climb on top of a stool at the island. It jingled. She cringed, hoping no one heard that. If she moved very slowly, she could climb onto the counter. Cats were nimble creatures, masters of stealth, sultans of silence. They moved with control and fluid grace. With painstaking care, she pulled herself up to the counter. Her muscles quivered at the slow control needed. Halfway over the edge, she reached out to the nearest baked goodie. It shone with a welcoming light, promising delicious joy. The bell hit the counter. 

Kaori's ears tuned in on the soft tone. She lowered the file she'd been inspecting. “Naoto? Are you in the kitchen?” 

A jolt of panic shot through the little blue-haired cat-girl, freezing her in place. Her fingers twitched mere centimeters away from her target. What was that one word the Humans used to convey a negative? It was an easy one, as she heard it all the time –usually following her name. “...No?”

“Don't you lie to me. I can hear you.”

Naoto mewed a soft equivalent to their word for 'Dammit.' 

Kaori picked up the file. She knew exactly what that little cat was doing. “You'd better not be stealing any cookies.”

Think fast! Naoto fumbled for the right words to voice to the contrary of the allegation. If this wasn't believable, all of her efforts would shatter. “...I'm not!” 

Kaori flipped a page. “Really? Because your bell tells me otherwise.” 

Fail! Naoto whimpered, thunking her head against the counter to a chorus of sounds and words that only made sense in her language, and none of it was pretty. She slipped back to the stool and sat, arms crossed. Her head dipped to eye the bell; her new nemesis. Her lip curled back in a snarl. She grabbed the bell, pulling frantically to snap it free from the metal ring. It jingled in protest. In the end, She succeeded in knocking herself off the stool. The little cat stared up at the counter and the victory torn from her grasp. She'd failed to defeat the bell. 

* * * *

\----At the same time inside the Dojima residence...----

“Yosuke?” Yu opened the door to his room. 

The little fox looked up from the right most couch cushion, and his tail began to wag. “Yu!” An afternoon kids show mumbled from the old set. The television remote sat next to him, and a large bag of chips torn open sat to his right. Bits were crunched up all around him. 

That yokai must have had a hard time opening the bag and finally ripped it open with his teeth out of frustration. Yu sighed at yet another reason to get this boy a collar. He removed the item from the plastic Junes bag and tore off the price tag. “Come here.”

Yosuke crunched up a chip, wiped his hands on his pants, and hopped to the floor. 

Yu knelt and locked the collar latch behind the fox-yokai's neck.

Yosuke batted repeatedly at the brass bell around his neck. His ears pulled forward in curiosity. What the heck was this for? He looked at Yu and asked for an explanation. 

Yu couldn't understand his words, but could guess by the curious tone. He sat back. "Chie said she had one of these for her dog when he was a puppy. This'll make sure you stay out of the hall closet, and I can keep track of you. I know you promised to steer clear of that room, but I know you." 

Yosuke ran after him, the bell jingling. He stopped to pull at it, and ended up pulling himself in a circle before he finally tumbled over. The bell jingled loudly. At first it was fun. Now it was just annoying. “Yu? No. Off.” 

Yu smirked. “Nope. That's staying on until you learn the rules.” This was a good idea. He'll keep this on the little fox for a while. The sound of the bell followed him downstairs with yip/barking demands he could only assume would translate to 'take this off' as he went to make himself a snack in the kitchen. 

Yosuke climbed up the drawer handles to the counter top and snagged the deli slice from the sandwich. “Yum!” 

“Hey. Yosuke. No.” Yu picked him up, set him on the floor with the pilfered meat, and simply placed another one on the sandwich. 

Yosuke grumbled. His tactic was meant to force his Human into action. Sadly, it backfired. He devoured the slice of ham. If that didn't work, then maybe consistent annoyance would. As Yu turned to leave the kitchen, the little fox-boy leaped into the front of his leg and held on. “Yu! Off! Do not want!”

He paused to look down at the determined frown on the fox latched to his right leg. Despite the yokai's efforts, he walked up the stairs with a stunted gait as though he had a peg leg and stood near the couch. “If you don't let go, I won't give you a bite of my sandwich.” 

Food. Yosuke's weakness. The bell jingled lightly as he slid to sit on the top of Yu's foot, and pouted. Finally, he let go and jumped up onto the couch to sit next to the sandwich plate. He ripped a large bite from the corner, ate it quickly, and made a running jump to the table, sliding on papers. He couldn’t stop and slid all the way to the floor. The bell sounded an alarm from the impact. 

Yu looked up from sending a text to Yukiko on his phone and smirked slightly. He took a bite from the sandwich, moved the plate to the table, and got up to pick up the papers. The little fox-boy lay under a math study guide. Yu lifted it to add to the stack on the table. “You ok?”

Yosuke's ears flattened and he yipped sharply, folding his arms, though still on his back. When he'd calculated the jump to the table—a feat he'd managed many times before—he forgot to take the added weight of the bell into account, missing his landing mark, and tumbled over the other side. “Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

Yu chuckled. “Keep complaining. I'm still not taking the bell off.”

The tiny fox rolled onto his belly in a huff. He got up, fed up with being denied this one great want, and ran downstairs into the living room, the bell jingling his presence the whole way. 

This was going to make his life a little easier. Yu sorted out his homework, picked up a pencil, and set to work. He could hear the light lilting tone of the roaming bell moving around the house. The little fox-demon was probably still trying to remove it. The collar may have been created for a small animal –he had to adjust the belt size anyway—but it was strong, and could hold up to the fox's escape attempts. 

A few minutes later, the jingling of the bell fell silent. He glanced at the door waiting, but heard nothing. Now he understood that sense of concern adults always spoke of when they'd mention it was 'too quiet.' He started to get up to make sure the little fox wasn't up to mischief when the fast, loud jangling of the bell broke the silence. Seconds later, Yosuke burst through the door and leaped into Yu's chest, knocking him to his back. 

The fox boy sat on his Human's chest, and filled the next minute with a long, incomprehensible rant in his own language. He pulled at the bell, pointed to him, then to the outside. 

“You went out to the backyard?”

Yosuke nodded quickly. 

He sat up and set the fox on the floor. “I don't get it. Why are you so upset?”

Yosuke couldn't remember the words, so he pantamimed what happened. He bounced around the room, rolled to the jingle of the bell, and crouched down on his hands and feet. 

“You were playing,” Yu sat indian style and tried to decipher the cherades. “And saw a... bird?”

Yosuke's eyes narrowed at him. “No.” He fluffed his tail out and flattened his ears, then hissed loudly. 

“Oh, you saw the neighbor's cat.”

“Yeah! Grrrrr!” He ran under the table, then around behind Yu, then climbed up onto the television counter, jumped down, pulled open the bottom dresser drawer and jumped in. 

“It chased you and you hid?” 

Yosuke flopped out of the drawer, making the bell blatantly announce his movement. He got to his feet and ran circles around Yu. Disgruntled, he sat down with his hands planted against the floor between his outstretched legs, and cried loudly. “Yuuuuuu!”

“I guess you couldn't stay hidden because of the bell.” Yu scratched him between the ears. “Maybe you should learn to keep an eye out for when the cat is there before going outside. And no, I'm still not taking the bell off.”

Yosuke grabbed Yu's hand in both of his, pushed himself back and let out a long, irritated raspberry. Of course his Human wouldn't understand the importance of making sure he was top fox in the neighborhood, and that meant showing that orange cat who's boss. He folded his arms in a huff and stared angrily at the floor. 

Yu looked to the pouting animal demon, then to the window. The blue sky held a welcoming feel, and he could see how not being able to enjoy it because of the cat would ruin Yosuke's day. For now, this house, the Hanamura's house, and himself were Yosuke's world. The loss of going outside would be considered a big deal. 

If he were outside with the fox, Yosuke could wear himself out playing in the backyard without having to worry about the cat. He gathered together his homework, stood, and moved to the door. He glanced back. “It is a nice day to study outside.” 

Yosuke's right ear twitched forward in interest. In a flash, the little fox bolted past him down the stairs, through the living room, and pushed open the back door. He bounced impatiently at the edge of the porch waiting for his Human to join him. As soon as Yu sat down, the fox pounced on the small yellow ball sitting on the grass beneath the drying laundry waving in the breeze, and happily played. 

Yu listened to the bell jingle with each bounce. Occasionally, Yosuke would leap up onto the porch. At one point, he started play-biting Yu's hand. This was young animal behavior. Yu snapped his fingers when the bites started to inflict pain. Teaching him not to do this would take a while, as the fox yokai seemed to have a habit of chewing on stuff.

Yosuke backed up, blinked at him, yipped to a happy tail wag, and went back to bouncing around. 

The bell jingled as Yu played with the fox on a sunny afternoon while finishing up homework. Each time the play-biting became too rough, Yu would snap his fingers as a way to teach him to be mindful, or even stop. Yosuke learned quickly where his Human's pain tolerance was, and tried to obey, but would get a little overzealous from time to time. 

Nanako had returned from playing at a friend's house a few minutes later. 

The sun began to set. Yu stretched, setting his finished homework aside and glanced down to a passed out fox on his leg. Good. His plan to tire his friend out worked. He gathered up his homework, picked up the fox in one arm, and moved back inside. 

The bell woke him up. Yosuke yawned as he was carried inside and set down on a floor cushion. He grumbled at the light sound. It would be hard to sleep with this thing on. 

Nanako scooted over next to him to pet his ears. 

Yu stood, setting his homework on the table. “I forgot the cabbage for dinner tonight. I'll be right back. You ok watching him for a bit, Nanako?”

“Uh huh.” She smiled. “I don't mind. That bell is cute and he looks cute with it on. Besides, he's asleep again.” 

“Thanks. I'll get some pudding cups while I'm there.” He smiled slightly at the two, then grabbed his jacket and left the house for Junes. Yu had to admit it, that fox really was kind of adorable –when he wasn't getting into trouble. Hopefully the bell training idea would work. 

And thus began the Bell Days for the fox and cat.


End file.
